Yang Zuoxing, formerly a top chip designer for mining hardware giant Bitmain, has allegedly been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement. A Dec. 16 Bloomberg report cites three unnamed sources and a police statement released by prosecutors in Beijing’s Nanshan district on Dec. 12, as evidence for the claim. The authorities’ statement reportedly omitted reference to Yang’s full Chinese name, ostensibly to protect his anonymity. Industry rivalries Yang Zuoxing had worked as a processor design director at Bitmain until 2016, where he helped develop the manufacturer’s flagship Antminer S7 and S9 models. He left the firm in June of that year, …

A United States court has granted regulators a preliminary injunction against an alleged Bitcoin (BTC) Ponzi scheme which reportedly defrauded investors of $11 million. In a filing with the United States District Court in Nevada dated Dec. 6, Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey ruled in favor of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and against Circle Society, along with its operator, David Saffron. CFTC wins injunction against CIrcle Society “...I find that this is a proper case for granting a preliminary injunction and other equitable relief to preserve the status quo, protect customers from further loss and damage, and enable the …

United States authorities have charged a Pennsylvania man with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and extortion via a series of SIM swaps targeting cryptocurrency execs and investors. SIM-swapping — alternatively known as a port-out scam — involves the theft of a cell phone number in order to hijack online financial and social media accounts, enabled by the fact that many firms use automated messages or phone calls to handle customer authentication. As per a Dec. 11 news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Anthony Francis Faulk, 23, allegedly used “fraud, deception, and social engineering techniques” to persuade telecoms employees …

Russia’s largest darknet marketplace is looking to raise $146 million in a token offering that would allow it to go global. As Forklog reported on Dec. 11, the token sale is almost certainly illegal — in this case not merely for flouting securities laws or other financial regulations. “A new era in the West” The operators of the marketplace, known as “Hydra,” have ambitions to roll out their model of anonymized, rogue trading for illicit substances at a massive scale. An investment memorandum, accessible only via dark web browsers like Tor, claims the platform’s global expansion “will start a new …

Ugandan police have seized Samson Lwanga, one of the directors of the alleged cryptocurrency pyramid scheme Dunamiscoins Resources Limited. As domestic news publication Daily Monitor reported on Dec. 9, the police arrested Samson Lwanga, one of the four directors of Dunamiscoins. The company in question is allegedly a cryptocurrency scam, which involved over 10,000 people and reportedly managed to defraud victims of 10 billion Ugandan shillings ($2.7 million). Investigation into the case Patrick Onyango, a spokesperson for the Kampala Metropolitan police, said that the law-enforcement agency submitted a general inquiry file and is still conducting its investigation into the case. …

An alleged cryptocurrency pyramid scheme in Uganda has fled after defrauding dozens of victims that invested in and worked for the scheme. Dunamiscoins Resources Limited opened in Masaka last month and started inviting individuals to invest and become part of its “digital currency network,” independent Ugandan newspaper Daily Monitor reports Dec. 5. The firm’s offices closed down covertly just a month after opening, with employees reportedly coming to the office to find it empty. Dunamiscoins required employees to pay to start work A businessman who worked next to Dunamiscoins’ closed offices reportedly said that Dunamiscoins was convincing people to join …

Thai immigration officials have arrested 24 Chinese nationals who were running an alleged cryptocurrency scam call center in the Rama III neighborhood of Bangkok. According to an official announcement on Dec. 2, the Immigration Bureau of the Royal Thai Police arrested 24 individuals, seized 61 laptops, 424 mobile phones and several routers. The Immigration Bureau further states that the head of the operation would hire employees on three-month contracts, wherein all their expenses were paid including a 5,000 yuan ($710) monthly salary. After arriving, workers would surrender their passports to the head of the operation. Employees would work shifts from …

Security researchers have discovered a new cryptocurrency-related macOS malware believed to be the product of North Korean hackers at the Lazarus Group. As tech-focused publication Bleeping Computer reported on Dec. 4, malware researcher Dinesh Devadoss encountered a malicious software on a website called “unioncrypto.vip,” that advertised a “smart cryptocurrency arbitrage trading platform.” The website did not cite any download links, but hosted a malware package under the name “UnionCryptoTrader.” Linkage to North Korean hackers According to the researchers, the malware can retrieve a payload from a remote location and run it in memory, which is not common for macOS, but …

In the last week of November, the saga of an alleged crypto Ponzi scheme that has been lingering for more than half a year took a new turn. A hobbyist blockchain researcher reported on Twitter that he’d tracked almost 200,000 BTC that had gone missing over the summer, when several million people invested in PlusToken — a South Korea-based exchange and a high-yield investment program — found themselves unable to withdraw their money. The researcher suggested that the embezzled funds have been gradually dumped on crypto exchanges, potentially suppressing Bitcoin market price. Here’s what is known about the monumental scheme …

Israeli crypto entrepreneur Moshe Hogeg and his blockchain firm Stox (STX) are facing a lawsuit from a disgruntled investor in the United States. A Vancouver-based investor has accused Hogeg of major breaches of contract and alleged fraud that caused him losses of at least $430,000, according to a lawsuit filed Nov. 25. The complaint is filed with the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. In the 43-page lawsuit, the plaintiff Sean Snyder claims that the company failed to perform its obligations under its whitepaper by issuing a larger amount of tokens than originally announced and eventually …

The national police force of New Zealand have seized between NZ$6.2 and NZ$6.7 million in cryptocurrency from a man who allegedly was involved in online movie piracy in the United States. Two accounts of the seizure At 5:00 AM local time, on Nov. 23, the New Zealand Herald reported that New Zealand police had restrained around NZ$6.7 million (USD$4.2 million) in cryptocurrencies and NZ$1.1 million (USD$700,000) in bank funds under the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Act (CPRA) from the 31-year old software programmer, allegedly Jaron David McIvor. An hour later, authorities released a press statement claiming that they had seized $6.2 …

Neil Bush is alleged to have received $300,000 to attend a meeting involving OneCoin co-founder and current fugitive Ruja Ignatova, known as the "Cryptoqueen." As Law360 reported on Nov. 15, testimony in a U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York contained allegations against Neil Bush, brother of former President George W. Bush and son of the late President George H.W. Bush. Sibling entanglements As Cointelegraph has reported, OneCoin is among the crypto industry’s most infamous alleged exit scams. Founded in 2014, the Bulgaria-based firm remains fully operational to date despite investigators’ allegations that it raised 4 billion …